𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄⼁Vida

FIFTY-FIVE

Clara stared at him in with mounting horror, "What do you mean?" she asked him.

Clancy smiled at her patronisingly. "Who do you think sent the anonymous tip to the Skip Tracers to be on the lookout for a group of PSI near St Helena's? Or sent the message to the trainers at Sawtooth to be on the lookout?"

Clara stepped back from the glass. He got her captured. It was his fault they did all those things to her. His fault she can't look at herself in the mirror. From behind her Clara could hear Nico sobbing, sliding down against the wall to the floor.

Ruby took one ragged breath before she screamed. She screamed and screamed, banging her hands against the glass. She screamed until she had nothing left, a low sob falling from her.

Clara stumbled back until she was leaning against the wall. She had an aching sense of betrayal in her heart. After everything he'd done, everyone he'd hurt, he'd tried to hurt her too. She didn't know why she felt somehow exempt from his cruelty, but his actions had solidified a gruesome truth. Clancy didn't care about anyone but himself.

"Get out of here!" Nico screamed as he unlocked Clancy's cell with Cole's set of keys. "Disappear again the way you always do. Just call off the people you hired to get you out and leave!"

Clancy stood up from his bed as if he was considering Nico's offer. "Why do you have to take every good thing we try to give you and break it into pieces?" Nico cried, dropping the keys to the floor. "You let them turn you into this..."

"This is who I am," Clancy snapped. "I won't let them change me. I won't let them touch me. Not again."

Clara stepped forwards, watching his face intently. "No one will force you to have the procedure. Just call off the people who are coming and go. Please, Clance. Please," Clara begged him desperately.

As she stared into his face, for a single moment, she saw a flicker of the boy from the lab. The one who protected her when he could.

"Why can't you ever listen?" Clancy said, looking between Nico and Clara.

"Please," Nico begged him.

"It's too late," Clancy said. "If you weren't so stupid you would have realised that. Can't you hear it? They're on the roof. They're here."

Clara looked up, trying to hear them. It was quiet, almost unnoticeable. But there was the faint sound of boots marching.

"Who's here?" came a soft voice from behind them. "Who did you call to get you out?"

Clancy shoved past Nico," Hello, Mother. Were you hoping I'd leave without saying goodbye?"

Ruby turned to the First Lady, "I told you to leave," Ruby barked at her.

"Who did you call?" Lillian asked her son again.

"Who do you think?" Clancy asked, a politician's smile on his face. "I called Dad."

There was a moment of silence before the entire building shook. Clara held onto the wall, the feeling all too familiar to that of Los Angeles. She reached out, grabbing Nico by the hand.

Lillian Gray raised a gun, the weapon shaking in her hands. "I love you," she said, and fired.

A spray of blood burst from Clancy's shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Clara watched as Lillian shot him again, in the leg. Nico turned away, covering his face.

The building shook again. They had minutes at most. Clara looked at Ruby, sharing a glance. In that moment an understanding floated between them. Clara tilted her head at her. You're sure?

Ruby nodded. I'm sure.

Without hesitation, Ruby ripped the lanyard with the flash drive from around Nico's neck. Clara pushed him back into Clancy's cell and locked it with Cole's keys she swiped off the floor.

"No!" Nico yelled, banging his hands against the glass. "No, no, no," he cried. Clara stared at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "Clara, you know what they'll do. They'll take you back to that place. They'll kill you—they'll kill you both."

Clara shook her head resolutely, pressing her hand against the glass. "I won't let them hurt us, Nico. I won't."

"It was supposed to be me. It should be me!"

Ruby made her way over, "Tell the others March first. Harry knows the plan." She pressed her head against the glass, looking down at the floor. "I can see it now—the road Jude talked about. It's so beautiful. The rain's gone and the clouds are moving out."

Clara walked away from the door, refusing to look back. She shouldered Dr. Gray out of the way, taking one of Clancy's arms. "Ruby!" she called. The girl looked over, leaving Nico behind. She grabbed Clancy's other arm and they began dragging him out, his blood leaving a trail on the floor.

"Where are you taking him?" Dr. Gray asked.

"Shut the door!" Ruby snapped. The two girls dragged him into the open hallway, dropping his body down.

Ruby bent down, dropping the flash drive in her boot. "Ruby, how are we going to do this?" Clara asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't know," Ruby responded, her voice firm. Clara dropped down to the floor, lying flat. She pressed her hands against the back of her head, waiting for the PSF's to arrive. She tried to ignore the way her hands shook. With one hand she reached out, holding Ruby's in her own.

"I'll be okay," Ruby whispered. "We're going to live."

There were a few moments of still silence. Clara thought of all the people she had to protect. All the people that would die if their plan didn't work. One way or another Clara would find her peace by the end of this. Whether she'd find it in life or death, she wasn't sure.

The silence was disrupted by the loud bang of the door. Boots came marching in, red lasers scanning the area. Clara pulled her hand away from Ruby's, placing it back on her head. A hand gripped Clara by the hair, pulling her face up so a bright light could be shone on it. When she felt the cold metal of a gun being pressed against her she knew they identified her.

Clara panicked. She could feel her breath coming out in quick pants. She wasn't sure what to do, what plan Ruby had concocted. She knew the second she tried to reach for the PSF holding her she'd be shot through the head.

Clara watched as Dr. Gray was dragged away from her son, clawing at the soldier who was holding her. Clara got a glimpse of Clancy, a plastic white muzzle placed over his face. As she was distracted, a needle was pushed into her skin.

Clara felt the drug take effect immediately, her eyelids becoming too heavy to hold up. Her limbs felt like lead, even if she wanted to she couldn't reach for the PSF holding her now. "No," she whimpered.

She wanted to turn her head to find Ruby, but the PSF was holding her head down to the ground. She wanted to call out but her tongue felt like sandpaper in her mouth. Slowly, Clara succumbed to the drug, allowing herself to slip into oblivion. Death it was, it seemed.